The U.S. State Department has just released the May 2015 Visa Bulletin which is the eighth Visa Bulletin for the FY2015 fiscal year. The major headline in the upcoming month’s Visa Bulletin is the significant 7.5-month forward movement in EB-2 India and the 14-month forward movement in EB-2 China. EB-3 Philippines moves back by seven [...]
USCIS has released an updated set of processing statistics for petitions filed under the fifth employment-based preference category (EB-5) for foreign investors. It is interesting to note that the number of I-526 applications (for initial EB-5 green card) have more than doubled compared to 2010 (4,156 compared to 1,955) while the approval rate has remained [...]
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has announced the creation of a separate office which would be tasked with overseeing the EB-5 immigrant investor program. Yesterday, July 18, 2012, USCIS Director Mayorkas announced that his agency has and will continue to increase the number of staff dedicated to the EB-5 immigrant investor program. This [...]
USCIS Director Alejandro Mayorkas just announced a number of initiatives intended to boost the ability of immigrant entrepreneurs to obtain immigrant benefits for themselves, as part of the Obama administration's goal to boost hiring and jobs. Director Mayorkas has announced a number of initiatives and "clarifications" of existing temporary and permanent work visas which should [...]
Last week, in a press release, USCIS announced a number of significant enhancements to the EB-5 Immigrant Investor program. Note that these are proposed changes which are expected to be published on June 17th for public comment and possible implementation at a later date. About the EB-5 Program In 1990, the U.S. Congress created the [...]
The NPR ran a story yesterday, March 5th, on the EB-5 investor visa program. While the story is intended for a general audience and is fairly general in nature, it is interesting to read (or listen to the podcast) a mainstream media story about this growing in importance and profile program. One of the points [...]
Among our clients and readers, we have many entrepreneurs and start-up companies which may be interested in a recent development in Congress. Senators Kerry (D-MA) and Lugar (R-IN) have introduced a new bill in Congress seeking to drive job creation and increasing America's global competitiveness by helping immigrant entrepreneurs secure visas to the United States. [...]
About EB-5 and the Regional Center Program In 1990, the U.S. Congress created the fifth employment-based preference category (EB-5) for qualified foreign entrepreneurs seeking to invest in a business that will benefit the U.S. economy and create or save at least 10 full-time jobs. The basic amount required to invest is $1 million, although that [...]
In a December 14, 2009, meeting, USCIS has provided some helpful information about the current state of the EB-5 program. I-526 Premium Processing Possible Later in the Year A review of the question of reinstating premium processing for I-526 petitions will be done during the second quarter of 2010. USCIS will reinstate premium processing if [...]
